Land prices

Since a few years the national governments and private investors increasingly explore the opportunities to invest in land. Global food production is expected to double by 2050 due to an increasing world population, higher demand for protein diets, bio-fuels and bio-based materials. At the same time soils get exhausted and agricultural production areas are affected by climate change. As a result prices for agricultural land in Europe are on the rise.

For many farmers agricultural land prices (including rental prices) have increased so drastically that farmers cannot earn back their investments with the revenue from the agricultural produce. Increasing land prices are a major burden for young farmers and a reason to not to start farming. Who can at the same time invest in land but also pay for machinery and other start-up costs?